On the Wednesday 26 February, Jnetics – a charity dedicated to the prevention of genetic disorders more prevalent in the Jewish community – with the support of the Hakimi family, will be hosting an event in Essex to educate hundreds and screen 140 young adults for free.
After Marley Hakimi’s recent Tay-Sachs Disease diagnosis, Chloe and Danny Hakimi wanted to collaborate closely with Jnetics to ensure that young Jewish adults, especially those beginning to think about starting or growing their family, are well informed about the impact of a child being born with a severe genetic condition ensuring they come forward to be screened.
The couple said: “The diagnosis of Marley was heartbreaking, and we believe that he was brought into this world for a reason, to ensure no other babies will be born into the community with an incurable genetic disease “
Jnetics CEO Nicole Gordon added: “We are hugely grateful to the Hakimi family for their commitment and dedication to our vital work. The funds raised by hundreds of donors who supported the Hakimi family in a recent Jnetics fundraising event will be used to test 70 young couples in the Essex area for free.” (the subsidised cost of a test through the Jnetics clinic is £425 per couple).
The Jnetics test, which identifies carriers of 47 recessive genetic disorders is a simple cheek swab. They run screening programmes in Jewish schools, universities across the UK and through the Jnetics clinic, for which anybody with one Jewish grandparent is eligible.
More than 1 in 3 individuals are currently being found to be healthy carriers for one of the disorders. Babies are only at risk of being born with one of the conditions (1:4) if both parents are carrying the same genetic mutation.
Tay Sachs is an incurable genetic disease more prevalent in the Jewish community.
To attend the event, please register through the Jnetics website at https://www.jnetics.org/events/healthier-future/. To sign up for free screening, there will be a link sent out upon registering for the event. Please be aware that the free screening will be allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis, and that only a few places remain.
All can still be screened, but the costs will be £425 per couple or £315 for an individual. For further information on Jnetics screening programmes, please email screening@jnetics.org.
